Record numbers for new Harry Potter book

NEW YORK (AP) _ At a record pace, advance orders are piling up for the next Harry Potter. <br><br>Since Wednesday's long-awaited announcement that the fifth Potter book, ``Harry Potter and the Order

Friday, January 17th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

NEW YORK (AP) _ At a record pace, advance orders are piling up for the next Harry Potter.

Since Wednesday's long-awaited announcement that the fifth Potter book, ``Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix,'' was coming out June 21, tens of thousands of readers have already pre-ordered J.K. Rowling's latest adventure story.

Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble.com both said Friday that advance orders were well ahead of those for the fourth Potter book, ``Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire,'' published in July 2000. ``Goblet of Fire'' had advance orders of 400,000, Amazon.com's largest ever pre-order. Barnes & Noble.com also said ``Goblet of Fire'' was its largest pre-order.

On Friday, ``Order of the Phoenix'' was No. 1 for both online retailers.

Amazon.co.uk said it had 30,000 orders for the book in the 24 hours after its publication was announced, well on the way to topping the record 65,000 for ``Goblet of Fire.'' A spokesman in London for the book chain Waterstone's said advance sales have been ``huge.''

Rowling's four published titles have sold an estimated 192 million copies worldwide in hard and soft cover, and the books have been published in at least 55 languages and distributed in more than 200 countries. The first two books have been adapted into hit movies.